Sabo's life with the Revolutionary Army
by shadowyblueabyss
Summary: What happened after Sabo got shot by the Celestial Dragon? Why didn't he go back for Ace and Luffy? The story about Sabo's life with the Revolutionary Army, the reason why he joined, and how he gradually learned more and more about his enigmatic leader.
1. Awake

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ONE PIECE. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO EIICHIRO ODA**

**Sabo's life with the Revolutionary Army—part 1**

Sabo opened his eyes and immediately felt a searing pain coming from the left side of his head.

"Vyou really shouldn't move vyet, boy," said a strange male voice behind him.

Sabo saw a man with a huge purple head, he seemed so strange, aside from gigantic his head and purple afro, he wore a tight black outfit and high-heels.

"Wha-, where am I? How do I get here?" he only remembered that when he realized that he finally got the chance to escape from his horrible life as a noble, he built his own boat, then he remembered seeing a huge ship, explosions, then nothing but complete blackness.

"Vwell, vyou're on our ship. I have no idea who vyou are, Dragon's the one vwho brought vyou here," replied the strange man while walking towards the door.

_Dragon._ This name sounded so strange to him. _First a gigantic purple-headed man, now a dragon?_ But this strange guy was the one who tended and bandaged his wounds, so his companions must be good people too.

"Wait! What about my brothers? Do they know that I survived the explosions?" The sudden image of his two brothers worrying made him anxious.

"Vwho in the world are vyour brothers? Anyway, vyou should lie down for a little while." the purple-headed man frowned and exited the room.

Sabo gritted his teeth. He knew that news would travel fast because someone probably saw him got swallowed by the explosions, and Ace and Luffy would probably think that he's dead. He needed to get the hell out of this ship to meet them, but would his father order the police to catch him again if he goes back? _Fuck that. _He thinks to himself. _I can't let my brothers worry._

* * *

The brightness of the sunlight blinded him for a moment. After adjusting to it, Sabo saw that he was on a huge green ship, with a huge dragon's head in front of it.

_So this is the 'dragon' who brought me here? A ship?!_ He thought to himself. _The people here are really weird. _

"Um…can I speak to the 'dragon' who brought me here?" he asked a huge teddy-man who was standing nearby. This man looked both like a bear and a human, he was _huge_, and the strangest thing is, he had a pair of bear's ear on top of his head.

"You mean Dragon? He went out a while ago, he would probably be back soon." _So 'Dragon' is a he, a human named Dragon after all. _Sabo chuckled to himself. "Alright, thanks. I guess I'll just wait here." The teddy-man nodded and walked away without saying anything else.

This man Dragon was the one who brought him here, so he most probably was the one who saved him from the explosion. Sabo felt that he owed him a thank you. Dragon would probably also listen to his need of going back to his brothers, and he would probably let Sabo talk to this ship's leader of lending him a small boat.

Sabo waited while leaning against the rail, enjoying the blue sky and sea. As crazy as it seemed, Sabo felt strangely...safe, aboard this ship. He no longer had the nagging urge to look around and inspect every single person around him, afraid that he/she was someone his father sent to get him back home.

The explosion might also be a good thing, because then it would lead his family into believing that he was dead, and so he could finally live with Ace and Luffy without any worries.

_Just wait, Ace...Luffy. _Sabo said to himself. _I'll come back to you soon._

* * *

**That's all for chapter 1 :D Hope you guys enjoyed it! **

**The next chapters would be revolving around what happens afterward. :)**

**Please favorite/follow and review!**

**xx**


	2. Revolutionaries

******Sabo's life with the Revolutionary Army—part 2**

"DRAGON! VWHERE IN THE WORLD DID VYOU RUN TO THIS TIME?!" the purple-headed man's voice rang throughout the ship. Sabo snapped out of his daydream, he scrambled downstairs to the main dock. He expected to see Dragon as a huge and terrifying man, but all he saw was a raven-haired middle aged man with a red tattoo across his face.

"Sorry, I was looking around." He said nonchalantly. Even though this man Dragon was neither big nor terrifying, there was something about him that made Sabo felt hesitant to speak up to him.

"ADFKGHRGJDF. LOOKING AROUND?! REALLY DRAGON, VWHAT IF THE MARINES SP-, VHEY IM TALKING!" But Dragon was already walking upstairs.

Sabo gathered up the courage to talk to this enigmatic man, he moved down the stairs and toward the man.

"Um, hi? You're the one who saved me right?" asked Sabo, frustrated that even when he tries to be brave, his voice still wavers in front of this man.

"Seems like you're awake, and yes, I found you half dead by the shore. How are you feeling?" Dragon asked, he seemed to be strangely easy-going, but still able to maintain an aura that demands respect.

"I'm fine, thanks, you know, for saving me." Sabo waited for a moment before continue asking the question he has been dreading to ask, "Can I go back to my hometown?"

Dragon looked at him questioningly, "To Goa Kingdom?"

"No, No! Of course not! I mean, I have to tell my brothers that I survived the explosion, I'm afraid that somebody spotted me and told them that I'm blown up to bits." Sabo added quickly.

"Brothers, huh?" said Dragon while he picked up a huge bag from nearby the railings and heaved it up his shoulders like it weighed no more than a bag of rice. "Okay, but I'm afraid that you have to wait until we reach our base, since the ships are all there" He said without any heaviness in his tone.

"Wha-, that's it? Okay? I can go just like that?" Sabo was shocked by how short and simple this man's answer was.

"Yes, well what do you want me to say? 'You can't go because I have a habit in abducting some 10 year olds?'" Dragon laughed a little and strode away, leaving Sabo speechless.

_What a strange man, _Sabo thought, but anyway, now he had the permission to go back, he could not be any happier.

* * *

When the alarms ring, Sabo was at the main dock, looking out at the sea. The alarms went from soft to loud in only a few seconds, piercing his eardrums.

"There are four Marine warships nearby, I repeat, there are four Marine warships nearby. Everyone who can't fight, please go to the underground dock for safety." A voice rang out from the speakers; Sabo recognized the voice as the teddy-man.

Some people began to run past him, some accidentally bumped into him then muttering apology quickly, some just bumped and ran. Sabo felt that he knew these people somewhere, then it all clicks, they are the people from the Gray Terminal.

He recognized a homeless man that he had seen everyday during his time at Gray Terminal, he also saw a girl who he'd seen scavenging for food in the heaps of trash.

Why are all these people here? Alive and well? Didn't the king ordered his people to burn the Gray Terminal along with the people there down to ashes?

"BOY! WHAT ARE VYOU DOING VHERE?!" The purple-headed man's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

_Crap_. Sabo realized that he had been standing there at the main dock for quite sometime. When he looked around, no one was running to safety anymore, the doors to the underground dock were all locked, _Crap crap crap_.

"VJEEZ! VYOU ARE VSURELY A PAIN IN THE ASS. VNOW GO TO THE CENTER OF VTHE DOCK AND DUCK! Don't go near the railings, no vmatter vwhat." Said the purple-headed man urgently, clearly annoyed that he was still here. Sabo did what he was told.

"REVOLUTIONARIES, SURRENDER NOW. I REPEAT, REVOLUTIONARIES, SURRENDER NOW." A voice blasted from a distance, from the 4 Marine warships.

_Revolutionaries?! These people are revolutionaries?!_ Sabo thought nervously, he never once thought that the revolutionaries were actually real, there are some rumors about such people, but his parents always laughed at the rumors whilst saying that it is only a stupid myth and a 'ghost story' for the nobles.

Someone walked past the purple-headed man and grabbed a speaker; Sabo then realized that it was Dragon.

"How about no?" He asked through the speaker. Without fear. In front of 4 Marine warships. Possibly with at least one vice admiral onboard. Has he lost his mind?

"THEN WE WILL FIRE." The marines replied.

"Then we'll see which one of our flags will remain standing." Dragon smirked, "Yours" He pointed towards the World Government's flag. "Or ours." He pointed at the red flag on top of the ship's sail.

"FIRE" ordered the voice.


	3. Leader

**Sabo's life with the Revolutionary Army—part 3**

The fight was nothing like the war game Sabo used to play with Ace and Luffy. Bombs and bullets were fired from every direction, _real bombs and bullets_, this fight was no child game, this was real.

Strangely enough, even though the sound was horrible, Sabo didn't feel any vibration on the ship, which means none of the bombs had hit the ship. How was that possible? Surely the Marines wouldn't have any sniper with such poor aim skills. Curiosity got the best of him, so he decided to have a little look on what was going on.

The first sight that he saw after going out of his hiding place was a green veil of mist that was covering the entire ship, _What the hell is that?! Poison gas?! _Sabo panicked. He directed his gaze to the front of the main dock, and what he saw made his eyes widened even further.

There was Dragon, controlling the mist—no, _wind_, around him as easily as if he had been training since the day he was born. Then Sabo realized that he was forming a barrier all around the ship, he was protecting all of the people onboard. The barrier was only made of wind, but no bombs could get through, the barrier seemed indestructible. _Who in the world is this man?!_

The Marines stopped firing for a little while, and Sabo found out that they were refilling the bombs. The purple-headed man took this chance to attack, "DEATH WINK!" In a flash, one of the marine warships exploded.

Sabo could only watch, dumbfounded. Then he saw Dragon leapt out of the ship, Sabo watched as he raised his fist mid-air, he watched as the wind around him gathered around his fist, he watched as that man destroyed the remaining 3 warships in a single blow.

Sabo was too shocked to even move his hands when the impact from the blow almost blew him off the ship, luckily, the teddy-man caught him.

"Thanks." muttered Sabo breathlessly; the image of Dragon destroying 3 marine warships in less than 2 seconds was still clear in his head.

Teddy-man kept looking at him (even though he doesn't seem to have any eyeballs) as if waiting for him to spit the questions out, so Sabo finally asked, "H-how did he..?"

"He is our leader."

_He is our leader_.

There was a finality to the way he answered that spoke a higher admiration than any words could ever describe.


	4. Bunny Joe

The ship arrived at the base three days later, the Revolutionaries' base seemed to be located in the middle of nowhere, Sabo couldn't see anything else except for some sand dunes and plain white buildings.

Kuma and Iva (he learned their names two days before) were helping in transporting the supplies from the ship to one of the buildings. Sabo wondered how in the world are they friends, their characteristics were the polar opposite with each other. Iva was eccentric and loud, while Kuma was calm and composed.

"Dragon-san!"

"Dragon-san! We're so glad that you're back!"

"Welcome back!"

Sabo saw a huge crowd of people, possibly the other revolutionaries, all gathered around the port. Everyone had a huge smile on their faces, and they all looked so relieved. Not just Iva and Kuma, every other revolutionaries also seemed to respect Dragon so much. Sabo did notice one other thing, Dragon looked stiffer and much less easy-going than he usually was around Kuma and Iva, it looked like he had put on somewhat of a cold facade.

* * *

Sabo jumped off the ship and walked to the other side of the shore, hoping to get the chance to talk to Dragon about the deal of lending him a ship.

"Hey, you." a voice was heard from behind him.

Sabo turned around and saw a boy that looked no more than 16 years old squinting at him. He had light brown hair, with round eyes and tall, sharp nose. He wore a navy blue round hat with some kind of feather on top of it.

"Can you please step out of the way?" he asked impatiently.

"Sorry." _gee_, Sabo said to himself, _why is he so grumpy?_

The boy moved to where Sabo was standing a second earlier and leaned down, when he got up, he was holding a net full of fishes with both of his hands, but he was clearly having trouble in keeping all of the fishes to stay in the net.

"Care to help?"

_No._ "Okay." Sabo sighed as he held the other side of the net to help balance out the weight of the fishes.

"We just have to deliver this to that building over there," said the boy while tilting his head towards one of the white buildings located far ahead. Sabo just nodded and started to walk with him.

"By the way, sorry about my rudeness earlier." The boy looked at him in the eyes, the frustration that seconds ago was clearly there had gone, "I just can't afford to lose another big catch." he tilted his head towards the net, indicating the fishes.

"Oh." said Sabo. _That__'__s why._

"I have never seen you before, are you new?" asked the boy.

"If by new, you mean as a revolutionary, then no. I'll be gone after I managed to borrow a ship from your leader." answered Sabo.

"Oh. Then why are you here in the first place?"

"…An accident."

"One that's related to your wound over there?" he pointed at Sabo's left side of head. Sabo's whole feature stiffened, the image of the explosion started to play in his mind.

Noticing Sabo's uneasiness, the boy quickly corrected himself, "I mean, you don't have to tell me. It's just a stupid question."

"Yeah, i got this wound from that accident." Sabo sighed, there's no loss in telling him anyway.

"Oh."

Long stretch of awkward silence.

"What's your name?" Sabo couldn't handle the awkwardness anymore.

"Bunny Joe." answered the boy—Bunny Joe, he seemed relieved that Sabo had finally ended the awkward silence.

"…Bunny? like the young rabbit?" Sabo totally didn't think that question thoroughly, he silently cursed himself for being so blunt.

Bunny Joe laughed, "Exactly like the young rabbit." He didn't seem offended at all, which is a relief.

"So what should I call you? Bunny or Joe?"

"Joe. I prefer not to be publicly humiliated because of my name." This comment made Sabo laughed, he wasn't a bad person after all.

"Okay." Sabo steadied himself before telling Joe his name, "I'm Sabo."

"Nice to meet you. Too bad I don't have any remaining free hands to shake yours." Joe answered with a grin.

* * *

**Thank you for reading :)! This is more of a light-hearted chapter, but I hope that you still enjoyed it, the next chapter would be more serious and has more stuffs going on. **

**I really enjoy writing this story, and i want to make the best out of it. So i would really really appreciate the reviews and suggestions on what needs to be improved in the next chapters!**

**:D**


	5. Sabo's Decision

"Kuma-san, where should I put this net of fish?" Bunny Joe asked.

"Oh? That's a lot of fishes, good job. You can just put it there." replied Kuma who was still sorting out the ships' goods.

Sabo still couldn't decide what he felt about the revolutionaries. He spent his entire life being told by the nobles around him that the revolutionaries are the evil of this world, that they are the monsters that would haunt them nobles at night. But again, Sabo was aware that nobles only know little if not nothing about this world, they only live inside the safe walls that the World Government built, they accept the fact that they are born to be more respected and admirable than the people from the slums without ever wondering _why. _Still, all those years of continuous cautions he received affected his judgement towards the revolutionaries. _I should be grateful. _Sabo kept on reminding himself. _These people are the ones who saved my life, after all. _

But looking at Bunny Joe, Kuma, and Ivankov, Sabo just couldn't think of any reason that pushed them to be revolutionaries, because they must have known the consequences they are going to face once they make the decision to be a part of the Revolutionary Army. Furthermore, they were completely different than the rumours that the nobles always spread, there was nothing savage or cruel about them. They saved the people from the Grey Terminal, they gave them a place worthy to be called 'home', they also tended to Sabo's scars and wounds without asking for anything in return.

Curiosity got the best of him, and so he asked, "Why did you all become revolutionaries?"

Kuma, Ivankov, and Bunny Joe all stopped in their tracks and stared at him. "I-i mean, being revolutionaries is not a bad thing, because you all do good things out of it. It's just, it takes a really strong…commitment to be a part of the force that directly oppose the World Government." Sabo quickly corrected himself, afraid that he had somehow offended them.

Kuma was the first to answer, his voice sure. "We had nothing to lose."

Sabo was dumbfounded by his response. "What do you mean?"

"The World Government took away things that are important to us." Ivankov's voice was heard from the corner of the room. For the first time in these past 4 days, Sabo noticed that his expression was no longer lively and jubilant, but sad and filled with melancholy. He shrugged as he continued, "Some of us lost our parents, brothers, lovers, friends." He shifted his gaze back to Sabo, his eyes were now filled with pure rage towards the World Government. "Even our _homelands_."

Sabo touched the bandaged wound on the left side of his head, the pain that still lingered there reminded him that a Celestial Dragon was the one who shot him.

"We never think of being a part of the Revolutionary Army as a burden, Sabo." spoke Bunny Joe. "It is always a pleasure to help those people who had the same fate as us. And also to stop the lunacy of the World Government."

"So he was the one who saved you too?" Sabo continued, "Dragon-san. He was the one who saved you?"

Kuma's mouth curled into a small smile. "In a way, yes. We all are indebted to him."

"You know what the marines call him these days? "The Revolutionary Dragon"! They still don't want to admit that he's a threat to them, but I can promise you that years from now, the marines would regret that they didn't take Dragon-san seriously from the start." Bunny Joe's voice was coated with a very high admiration and pride, just like how Kuma's voice was at the ship 3 days ago.

Sabo opened his mouth to say something, but he wasn't sure what to say. He just needed a moment to gather his thoughts.

"Crap. Kuma! Vwe vwere supposed to transport this to the main building. How could vyou forget?!" roared Ivankov suddenly while pointing towards the huge package at the other corner of the room.

"It's supposed to be your job. Whatever. Just do it now." answered Kuma calmly, as always. He took the net of fishes while Bunny Joe went and helped Ivankov to carry the package. Before going out the door, Kuma turned around and faced Sabo. "As I recall, you are borrowing a ship right? Go left when you reach the main dock, that's where we harbour our ships." Before Sabo could thank him, he nodded and said, "I wish you good luck".

And so the three of them went out the door, leaving Sabo alone with his thoughts.

* * *

Dragon was already at the dock by the time Sabo arrived, and again, Sabo noticed that he was facing the east. During the past 4 days, he had been noticing that every time Dragon was alone, he always had his gaze lingers eastward. He had no idea what's the deal between the east and him, but it certainly seemed to be a happy thing, because Dragon's usual stone-hard expression always seems to soften a little while doing so.

"There will be a storm tonight." It took seconds for Sabo to realize that Dragon was talking to him.

Sabo's eyes widened. "Wha—a storm?! But the weather is fine now."

"The weather is unpredictable." Dragon broke his gaze from eastward to him. "The weather would be fine for another 2 hours or so, but of course, you'll need more than 2 hours to reach Goa Kingdom."

Sabo frowned at his answer. "What should I do then? I need to get to my brothers."

"If you sail out now, you'll have a shipwreck and possibly get eaten by a sea-king." He smirked. "Your brothers wouldn't possibly want that."

"Fine. Then what about tomorrow?" asked Sabo.

"Sunny all day. Perfect for sailing." replied Dragon.

Sabo whipped towards him. "Really?"

"Yes." replied Dragon shortly before he started to walk away.

Sabo just stood there, he expected himself to be coiled with excitement with the fact that he would be able to set sail in a day, but instead, he felt empty. Surely, the longing to see his brothers was definitely still there, but he knew that if he goes back, he would spend his time waiting to be old enough to set sail as a pirate. After witnessing the dirty actions the World Government made, the idea of being a pirate was suddenly not as gallant and great as he thought before. He knew he couldn't just watch the World Government continue to discriminate and getting rid of the people they don't desire, and he knew that he couldn't stop such thing by becoming a pirate. The best way to stop the greed of the World Government is to become a part of the force which directly opposes the World Government, and that's the…Revolutionary Army.

Weeks before, Sabo would have laughed at himself for considering to be a revolutionary, but now, it didn't feel funny or wrong. It felt right. He felt that he was finally being honest to himself, honest about what he really wanted to do.

Sabo's voice was firm when he called out, "Wait."

Dragon turned around and shot him a questioning look, waiting for him to spit the questions out.

"Let me join you. As a revolutionary." Sabo was surprised by how unyielding and determined his voice came out to be.

This took Dragon by surprise. "What?!" His expression was no longer calm and hard, it was pure surprise, just like…the old man who listened to his heartache and shames back in Goa Kingdom, claiming that he knew how he felt. Now Sabo was the one who was taken aback by surprise. "Wait. Are you the one at Goa Kingdom that night during the fire?"

Dragon squinted his eyes at him, as if telepathically telling him that he was so stupid for not realizing. "Yes." He sighed before continuing. "Now, did you really say you're joining?"

"T-thank you. I didn't realize because you were wearing a hood that night. It was really kind not to wave my words away, just like the others." Sabo took a deep breath before clarifying his decision. "And about earlier, yes, I said I want to join."

Dragon took a few steps towards him, he knelt down to the ground so that they were the same height. "You're still a kid, and besides, you already are a pirate." Sabo hated when Dragon looked directly into his eyes, his gaze is always sharp enough to make even the cruelest people fall down to their knees.

"What's wrong about still being a kid?!" Sabo could feel his rage started to boil inside him. "I'm not young enough to realize how greedy the nobles—the World Government is, I saw how calm the nobles were when they decided to burn the Gray Terminal, along with the people in it, as if the lives of other humans are not important. And don't forget that a Celestial Dragon was the one who shot me down, just because I was in his way. The nobles all think that they are more special human beings, that they hold the power over others' lives, and I can't ever allow that to go on—I can't allow Ace and Luffy to get hurt because of the World Government's selfishness!" Sabo was out of breath by the time he finished talking.

Sabo didn't expect to see surprise and bewilderment marked all over the Revolutionary leader's face. Dragon jaw went slack, his body unmoving as he stared wide-eyed at him. He stayed that way for a few seconds before trying to regain his composure, it didn't take him long to get his expression to return normal, he seemed so skilled and experienced in that masking his expression. "Ace, and…" He ran a hand through his hair while taking a deep breath. "_Luffy_. Ace and Luffy. They're your brothers?"

Sabo didn't get why his brothers' names made such an impact on this man, especially Luffy's. The way Dragon spoke Luffy's name, it sounded like he was forcing himself to say something that he had avoided for forever. "Yes."

Dragon clenched and unclenched his fist, as if deciding wether to spit some questions out. But when he finally looked up to meet Sabo's eyes again, his face and posture were once again controlled, his stiff posture and surprised expression were already gone by then, and his voice no longer sounded strained when he finally spoke, "Back to what i said earlier. By the statement that you're still a kid, I was not saying that you are too young to see the World Government's absurdity. I was telling you that you had no idea what the consequences are for being part of the Revolutionary Army."When Sabo opened his mouth to protest, Dragon raised a hand to stop him. "You have to know that being a revolutionary is not the same as being a pirate. Your enemy is the _whole _world, you can't trust anyone except your own fellow revolutionaries. You also have to be aware that when you get caught by the marines, your execution wouldn't be as nice and pleasant as the normal instant death on the Marineford's execution platform, they wouldn't let you to die without experiencing a lot of pain, they would _slowly _kill you, and at times, they wouldn't let you die so you can suffer for your whole life."

Sabo let out a gasp at his words, this man was so straightforward about all of it. Dragon ignored the perplexed look on the little boy's face, he continued, "And you know what the worst thing is? You won't be able stay with the people you really care about. Your mere being gives the World Government a reason to come and torture those people who are dear to you, they would do _anything_ to get informations about the Revolutionary Army. In your case, it's your brothers."

Sabo couldn't find his voice to answer. Dragon went on, "After hearing all these, if you still have the guts and determination to join, I would let you. I will not restrict you from seeing your brothers, because I have no right to do so. But if you truly care about them," He put his right hand on Sabo's shoulder. "You would leave them. You would want to wipe out your existence from their lives." Sabo noticed Dragon's voice was coated with anguish and heartache as he said his last sentence. He realized that this very man is the revolutionary _leader, _if the consequences for being a normal revolutionary is that heavy, then what about his?

Sabo felt upset that if he took this very path, his relation with Ace and Luffy would be enough of a reason for the marines to come after them, but he strangely didn't feel discouraged. Sabo had never felt so sure about what he wanted to do before.

"Then I would stay away from them." Sabo's voice was shaking a little, but still determined. He gathered his courage and stared back into the leaders' eyes. "I never felt so sure about what I wanted to accomplish before. Dragon-san, I want to change the world for my brothers. _Please_ let me join, I want to fight."

Dragon chuckled a little and stood up. "Alright, but you've been warned." A small smile was tugged at the end of his mouth, it was not another one of his sinister grin, but a pure, honest smile. He extended his hand to Sabo. "Welcome to the Revolutionary Army then, kid."

Sabo grinned as he took his leaders' hand.

_I would make this world better. _Sabo promised to himself. _You__'__ll see, Ace__…__Luffy._

* * *

**Thank you so much for reading! It's so obvious in the manga that Dragon truly cares about Luffy, and I hope that it looks that way in this chapter! :D**

**I really enjoyed writing this, please tell me what you think about it :)**

**xx**


	6. Luffy's memories

**4 years later**

* * *

"_When you exchange sake cups, you become brothers.__"_

"_Brothers? Really?!__"_

"_When we become pirates we might not be cremates on the same ship, but our bonds will keep us together as brothers! No matter where we are or what we do, our bond will not be broken!__"_

"_Starting today, we__'__re brothers!__"_

"_Yeah!__"_

* * *

"Sabo-kun!"

A whack on the head snapped Sabo out of his daydream. It was Koala, her face irritated.

"Where were you?! I thought I already told you again and again that we're going on a mission today!" she scolded.

"Wha—oh, right! Sorry!" Sabo apologized while standing up, and realized that he hadn't brought his den-den mush and pipe with him. "I gotta get back to take a few things, just wait at the shore, I'll catch up!"

"Again?! Geez!" Koala huffed. "Be quick! We're running late." Sabo gave her a thumb up before running back to the HQ.

It seemed Koala was once again the one who saved him from getting into trouble. Sabo was grateful that Dragon assigned Koala to go with him on missions, because she was always the one to remind him to be on time and to not run off. Sabo remembered the day Dragon brought her to Baltigo, it was only a year ago, but she already seemed so different than the angry girl he saw back then. _"__I want to erase the inequality that exists in this world!__" _Sabo remembered seeing the raging flames that glinted in her eyes. _"__I won__'__t let the World Government continue to discriminate and label whoever they don__'__t like as the __'__evils__' __in this world!__"_ Sabo didn't know what happened in her past, but whatever it was, both their pasts shaped them into the strong individuals they were now.

Of course, there was not a single day passed in which Sabo didn't think about Ace and Luffy, his brothers' smiles were still so clear in his memories. He promised that he would change the world for them, but nothing in this world seemed to come without a price.

It was a torrid afternoon. The sun was blazing through the window, its heat radiating every corner of the HQ, not leaving a single space of cool solace. Sabo was panting while running through the corridors, cursing the fact that his room was at the far corner of the building. He could hear the usual buzz of elite soldiers sorting out the paperwork and missions for their underlings, the officers talking through den-den mushi and the usual chatters the soldiers make.

After what seemed like forever, he finally reached the corridor in which his room was located. For the thousandth time, his gaze fell on the mysterious storage room that was at the opposite side of the hallway. There are rumours among the soldiers that this so-called storage room was actually filled with dark magic that can petrify the unauthorised intruders that went through the door, Sabo didn't buy it at all, he doesn't believe much in spooky bedtime stories.

Strangely enough, no one seemed to be walking around anywhere near this part of the building, and this made the idea of finding out the truth behind the rumours even more tempting. Curiosity got the best of him, so after rechecking that no one was nearby, Sabo walked slowly towards the door and opened it.

There was nothing special about the room, it was not even a _storage_ room, it looked almost exactly like his bedroom. Almost. At the corner of his eyes, Sabo could see somewhat of an odd box located at the bedside table. The box looked old, with some carvings at its sides. When Sabo took the box in his hands for a better look, he gasped.

_Monkey D. Luffy_

Sabo blinked and blinked, not sure if this was just a hallucination. Why was his brother's name carved there?! It completely made no sense to him. He needed to find out why. He opened the box.

Inside there was a white-transparent floating object, it looked familiar to him. _Kuma__'__s technique_. Yes, it definitely looked the same as one of Kuma's technique in which he extracts one's pain or exhaustion from his/her body. But on top of all things, why would it be there? In a box that has Luffy's name carved on it? It was either now or never to find out, and so Sabo touched the floating object.

In an instance, the world around him blurred. Sabo could feel himself collapsing into the floor, he could see nothing but white flashes of pain. He could hear voices began to whisper violently in his ears, and a force that seemed to be dragging himself back in time.

* * *

_Flashback:_

_"What's his name?" _

"_Luffy. Monkey D. Luffy__" __A woman__'__s face floated in his vision. She was beautiful. She had dark brown hair with a pair of bright auburn eyes. But her left head was marked red, no__—__not marked. Blood was streaming down her face, and he could see a few of gaping bullet holes in her chest. _

_He could see the middle-aged man who was kneeling in front of her smiled. His smile sad, pained and coated with anguish._

"_I__'__m sorry, Garp-san. I couldn__'__t save Dragon.__" __The woman__'__s voice shook as she spoke. He could see a piece__—__what__'__s left of a piece of paper burning in her hands. _

_Garp stiffened, but when he spoke, his voice comforting. __"__It__'__s okay. You__'__re going to be alright too, along with Luffy. A rescue team is on its way.__"_

_Tears began to fall on the woman__'__s face as she held him closer. __"__Luffy.__" __she whispered in his ears. __"__Be strong. I know you__'__re strong.__"_

* * *

The vision blurred and the pain subsided, but when Sabo struggled to get up, it came crashing on him again.

* * *

_Flashback:_

_'"Dragon, what are you gonna do now?" He could see Garp talking to whoever was carrying him._

"_I__'__ll keep going. I didn__'__t survive just for nothing.__" __Another man__'__s face appeared in his vision, his left face was currently bandaged, he had long mane black hair and a pair of jet black eyes. His eyes were hallow and empty._

"_What about Luffy?__"_

"_I__'__ll take care of him.__" __he answered. __"__Thank you. For saving Luffy.__" __Dragon turned and walked away._

* * *

Sabo could hear someone began to walk into the corridor. _Crap. crap_. But he couldn't make it stop, visions following visions started to fill his mind once more.

* * *

_Flashback:_

_"Dad!" he could feel himself running towards Dragon and colliding his body with his. "C'mon, c'mon let's play!" _

"_Hey buddy.__" __Dragon messed his hair up, he could hear himself laughing. __"__I__'__m a little bit tired today, can we just go to __'__that__' __place and chill?__" _

"_Yeah yeah sure!__" __he heard himself squealed while Dragon wrapped his arm around him and raised him high in the air._

* * *

The footsteps were starting to sound nearer and nearer. _Make it stop make it stop. _Sabo pleaded, but it didn't do him any good.

* * *

_Flashback:_

_"Dad. Why do you like to stare at the sea so much?" he heard himself ask._

"_Why, huh.__" __a smile was tugged at the end of Dragon__'__s mouth. __"__I don__'__t know exactly why, really. It__'__s just when you look at the sea, don__'__t you feel free?__"_

"_Free?__" __He felt himself getting confused._

"_Free as if no one could stop you from doing whatever you want to do.__"_

"_Oh.__" __he felt his mouth started to turn into an O shape._

"_Say, Luffy.__" __Dragon broke his gaze from the sea towards him. __"__What do you want to be when you grow up?__"_

_He felt sure when he answered. __"__You said that being free means we can do whatever we want to do right? Then I wanna be free! I want to be the person that has the most freedom in this world!__"_

_He could see Dragon smiled at this. __"__Yeah, freedom is the best thing a person could ever have. Remember Luffy, you should never let anyone take your freedom away.__"_

* * *

Sabo could hear the doorknob turning. He had been found out. _Stand up. Stand up. _But no matter how he ordered, his body couldn't obey.

* * *

_Flashback:_

_"Luffy. It's okay. Everything's okay. You can put the gun down." He saw Dragon kneeling in front him, his face stained with blood. He could saw himself carrying a gun, a gun which seemed to be so lethal in his hands, and he was pointing it at Dragon._

_He felt confused, he didn__'__t know how he ended up pointing a gun at his dad. But he__'__s scared, very scared, extremely scared._

_Dragon slowly reached out and took the gun out of his tiny hands. Then he felt his dad hugging him, telling him again and again that he is sorry._

* * *

"What are you doing here?!" a voice came from behind him, but Sabo was limp and lying on the floor by then, he couldn't even find the strength to turn his head and look at the person behind him.

* * *

_Flashback:_

_"What?! There is no way I'm doing that, Dragon. You're just tired and not thinking this through." he could see a huge person standing in front of Dragon, he had a pair of bear's ears on his head. _

"_I__'__ve seen you done it before. You can do it right?__" __he heard Dragon asked._

"_Yes, but like I said, I won__'__t do it.__" __The huge man averted his gaze to him. __"__I__'__m not taking away his memories.__"_

"_Please, Kuma. Please.__" __Dragon took a step towards Kuma. __"__I never asked you for anything, but I__'__m begging you now. Please.__"_

"_Why would you want that to happen? He won__'__t remember you.__"_

"_Remember that night, when he pointed a gun at me?__" __Dragon continued when he saw Kuma nod. __"__Before that, he used the gun to kill the two marines who sneaked up behind me. I could have died that night, but he saved me. And for that reason, he killed. He killed two people, Kuma. He__'__s a goddamn three year old kid, and he already killed.__" _

_Kuma didn__'__t say a word, and so Dragon continued. __"__I should have known that this would happen. I should have left him with Garp. I should have known that I won__'__t be able protect him forever from doing such things.__"_

* * *

"Sabo! Sabo! What happened?!" Sabo could see Bunny Joe shaking him by the shoulder. He closed his eyes, starting to feel a new tidal wave of pain crashing on him.

* * *

_Flashback:_

_He felt happy that day. Dad and Kuma were going to bring him along with them, so they can all play together for the rest of the day._

"_Luffy, ready?__" __Dad called out. He felt himself ran to him and were helped by Kuma entering the ship. _

"_Where are we gonna go?__" __he felt himself coiling with excitement._

"_To Foosha village. It__'__s fun and peaceful there, you__'__ll like it.__" __Dad__'__s voice was light, but his expression looked tight. Kuma__'__s posture was also more rigid than usual. _

_The journey took about 4 days, when they finally arrived, he could understand why dad said that the village is peaceful. The grass was green, there were also lots of trees, and the air was really fresh there too._

_As promised, they played for a while. But even then, he could see that Dragon__'__s expression didn__'__t turn to be any happier. _

_When it was finally dawn, he was already tired. He collapsed onto the fat and rich green grass, Dad was right, the sunset was also very beautiful there._

"_Luffy.__" __he heard himself being called. _

"_Hmm?__" __He felt himself turned his head towards Dragon._

"_Remember what I said about freedom?__" __He felt himself nodded happily. __"__You said that you wanna be the person with the most freedom in the world right?__" __Dragon raised his hand to him. __"__Then promise me, no matter what happens, you will want to be free.__" __He felt himself surely and happily taking dad__'__s hand, promising him._

_Dragon__'__s directed his eyes to Kuma. __"__Now.__"_

_He could felt Kuma shifted next to him. __"__Dragon. This is crazy.__"_

"_Kuma. You agreed.__"_

_After a moment, He felt a huge hand rested on his back, it must be Kuma__'__s. He felt himself starting to turn around and see what was happening, but stopped short. A terrible, terrible pain shot up in his head, he heard himself cried out, struggling to stop the pain, but Dragon__'__s grip on his hand didn__'__t lessen. __"__I__'__m sorry, Luffy. I__'__m sorry.__" __was all he heard before everything went black._

* * *

"Sabo."

Sabo gasped awake. The pain was gone, and the whispers that were crowding him earlier had vanished too. He felt sweat dribbling down his face. No, not sweat. Tears.

Bunny Joe was kneeling in front of him. "What happened?! Why were you on the floor? Wha—"

"Joe. I need to talk to Sabo alone for a minute. Can you wait outside? I'll call you when it's over." Sabo heard a familiar voice came from behind him, it was Kuma's. Bunny Joe frowned, but did as asked.

"Sabo. Did you open the box?" Kuma asked. There was no indication in his voice that he was mad, which was strange. Still, Sabo couldn't look at him in the eyes. He nodded wordlessly.

"What happened then?"

"I—" Sabo stopped and wiped his tears before continuing. "I was in someone—no, Luffy's memories."

Instead of scolding him, Kuma just nodded and sighed.

"Why? Why did you take his memories away?" Sabo couldn't stop himself from asking, although he was aware that he should be apologizing.

"Dragon wanted it to be that way."

"Yes, but you could have refused! You and Dragon-san don't have the right to take away one's memories!" Sabo couldn't force his anger down. _Nope, I only have Grandpa._ He remembered seeing the loneliness marked all over Luffy's expression that day. _Being alone is worse than dying!._

"Yes. Dragon's decision in taking away his memories is both selfless and selfish, isn't it?" Kuma's expression remain unreadable as he spoke. "But you know that if Luffy had stayed with him, he wouldn't have grown into the happy all-smiles kid you said he is now."

Sabo just stared at him now, he couldn't find anything right to say. Kuma got up and walked to the door. "Think about it. The reason why Dragon can lead the revolution all around the world is because he can make sacrifices, he's strong enough to abandon things that are important to him."

"Are you going to tell him?" asked Sabo after a long stretch of silence.

"No. He got enough things to deal with right now." Kuma looked back at him one last time before going out of the door. "You shouldn't bring Luffy up to him either, taking away his memories and leaving him behind was not and never will be an action that he's proud of."

Sabo got up and steadied himself. He remembered he still had a mission to do, Koala must be fuming by now, but that already felt like ages ago. Dragon is Luffy's _dad_, a father figure that Luffy has no knowledge of.

One thing that made Sabo certain what happened this afternoon was neither a dream nor a hallucination, is the passionate glint Dragon and Luffy both have when they talk about freedom, the fire that burns in their eyes mirrors each other.

As Sabo walked out of the dark corridor into the blinding brightness of the sunlight, Dragon's words echoed again and again in his mind.

_Freedom is the best thing a person could ever have. Remember Luffy, you should never let anyone take your freedom away._

* * *

**I was hesitant at first on whether I should upload this chapter, but oh well here it is! Hope you guys enjoyed it! :D**

**I always wondered if Kuma has the power to extract a person's pain and exhaustion, then he can probably extract memories too. Oda would most probably make the story with Dragon leaving Luffy behind when he was still a baby, but this is just how I prefer it to be. :)**

**I'm sorry if it is a bit confusing, but anyway, thanks for reading! please review on what needs to be improved!**

**xx**


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